2015- WILL THIS BE THE YEAR???

POST # 151

Lack of computer access last week resulted in missing out on writing my first post for 2015.  Since then, I have settled in at my new housesit which has a library close by with wifi, so I should be good for the next few weeks at least.

2015, will this be the year?  The year for what?  This could be the first year in literally millions of years, that the earth experiences an ice free Arctic Ocean.  This is a BIG DEAL.  The Arctic has been the earth's air conditioning unit for all this time, and once the ice goes, the heating really begins.  The process has been accelerating for many years now, and the people in the know, who study this,  have speculated that we could be ice free in September of this year, or at the latest next year.

How significant is the loss of sea ice? VERY SIGNIFICANT.  The easiest way to understand this is to see what happens to a gram of ice at 0 ° C when energy is applied to it.  It takes 80 calories of energy to melt this one gram of ice.  However, if the same 80 calories of energy is added to the resultant water, the temperature of that water is raised to 80 ° C.  In other words, once the ice goes away (and it will go away), all the energy of the sun will go directly into heating the ocean, instead of into melting ice, and the result will be a much warmer Arctic Ocean.  If we think we've had some weird weather issues up to now, just wait.  It's going to be quite a ride, and it could start as early as this September.

RECYCLING WON'T STOP THIS.
VOTING GREEN WON'T STOP THIS.
USING "GREEN" ENERGY WON'T STOP THIS.
SUPPORTING GREENPEACE WON'T STOP THIS.
SUPPORTING 350.ORG WON'T STOP THIS.
EVEN STOPPING ALL EMISSIONS IMMEDIATELY WON'T STOP THIS.

This process is already way too far advanced, and along with another 46 positive feedback loops* it really doesn't matter now, what we do or don't do as a society regarding climate change.  Our goose is already cooked.  Oh yes, the politicians will continue to talk, talk, talk, and there will be another meeting in Paris later this year to "hammer out some solutions," but they've been talking since the Earth Summit at Rio in 1992 and things have only become worse as each year passes.

And so it goes.  The TV will continue to be the main outlet in which people get their information and there will be plenty of news items to distract them.  Like for instance, the latest news from  Paris (Charlie Hebdo) which with only a small amount of research, appears to be yet another staged event to achieve some political ends, and keep the population enveloped in a state of terror.  The loss of Arctic ice won't even come close to being on the radar of the average person because "we have terrorists to fight."

In the meantime, I'll keep an eye on what's going on and report on it here from time to time.  I know it won't make a difference, but it feels good to write about it anyway, and it gives me something to do.

Now I think I'll head to the beach and take a dip in the surf, and do my best to appreciate the day at hand.

Happy Trails,

Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer


*for the latest on these positive feedback loops, please go to my friend Guy's website at guymcpherson.com and click on the link "monster climate-change essay"
Also, if you really want something to ponder, Guy has produced two short videos titled "Edge of Extinction", the first on January 2nd and the next one on January 4th.